Should I sell my M340i privately or via Carwow/motorway

[Harry Bastard]

Three weeks ago I sold my Mini Cooper S on carwow. It went to auction which ended well under reserve. They put it up on a buy it now and I accepted an offer £250 short of this.

The experience was painless and the dealership sent an agency driver to collect the car. The money and change of ownership were done before it left my driveway.

In the past I’ve used Arnold buys your car and John Clark buys your car. I would use carwow again in the future

I should add I tried selling privately and didn’t get a single bite. The car is currently up for sale and has been reduced in price a couple of times

[John Henry]

Sold all my cars privately save my last 21 plate 440 which I just couldn’t find a buyer for. A bmw dealer bought it in the end.
There are loads of scare stories about selling privately. I’ve never had a problem and must have sold well over 30 cars over the years.

[clive_candy]

QuattroDave said:

All bar one of the 50 odd cars I've sold over the years have been private. Of those all but two have gone painlessly. But, and this is a big but, aside from an RS6 I sold most have been <£10k where it's a case of cash or bank transfer and job done, as others have said a lot more people can call on <£10k without the need of a loan than >£30k

For a £30k car that's an every day car (albeit a bloody good one - why are you selling!) and with such a small gap between what you want and what you're offered I'd 100% take the carwow offer and be done with it. If you've a collectable/classic/weekend car I'd still be tempted to try private first as there tend to be more people around with big money to drop on a weekend toy than a workday car!

The one trade deal I did for my M140i couldn't have been less painless. Price agreed up front, guy arrived by train, I picked him up in the car at night in the rain he didn't even want to look around it he could "tell" it was a well looked after car. Bank transfer done whilst doing paperwork and he drove off. The longest part of the transaction was picking him up from the station!

Either way, good luck with the sale and what are you changing it for?

Quite right about there being more people around prepared to spend big money on a weekend toy than a daily.

There's also the element that people who are after a weekend toy tend to be into cars and so are ready to deal with a private individual. If you've some knowledge you're more likely to be prepared to buy off someone's drive. People after a daily aren't necessarily into cars and won't have that confidence.

I sold my Cayman privately recently having had quite a few enquiries from what seemed to be other private buyers. The 3 Series Touring I was selling last year at >£20k didn't get a single enquiry from a private buyer and went to a BMW main dealer who'd seen the advert on Auto Trader.

Think there's an element too of people wanting to buy a premium car from a main dealer just for the 'bella figura' as the Italians say.

All that said, even for an M340i I'd try private first. A short polite response to any email enquiries with a suggestion they call to discuss will weed out most of the idiots.

Edited by clive_candy on Friday 14th June 09:38

[Rob 131 Sport]

I’ve sold many cars privately and (following some filtering) met some very nice knowledgeable people. The last car I sold was my Mercedes E250 AMG Sport that I’d owned from 6 months old for 5 years.

However I wouldn’t even consider selling a £30k, especially a sporty one privately. As others have said, I’d try some BMW dealers to get the best price.

[EastStand]

Sold a Lotus for over 70K via Carwow.

All very straight forward. I set a reserve price which the dealer hit. I phoned them to arrange collection and explained I’d only release the car on full payment by bank transfer to which they agreed.

Transporter turned up on time, quick check of my car and full payment was in my account within ten minutes.

Very impressed with zero hassle and would use again.

[Jk89]

I have just agreed to pay £2500 more than carwow’s valuation for a M3.

I can’t see how it’s anymore hassle selling to me than a dealer through carwow.

[paddy1970]

I have sold 5 cars in the past privately but the last 3 were part ex. I tried to sell them myself but nobody was interested even when the selling price was within £500 of the part ex offer. I live in the middle of nowhere so perhaps the pool of buyers is quite small...

[Summit_Detailing]

I'd give Motorway a go, it costs you nothing.

I'm able to see it from the dealer/buying side and in the last few weeks anything which is at the higher end of a model line from, BMW especially - so M2/335d/340i/x3m/x5m50d etc etc are all attracting a crazy amount of bids so you're highly likely to see a decent figure over the reserve price.

Also main dealers use Motorway too so if it's prime used car stock it also saves you ringing round a few to see if they'd buy from you directly.

Cheers,

Chris

[ZX10R NIN]

For the sake of 1k on a mainstream car I'd sell to carwow/motorway etc.

[Jk89]

BMW finance wouldn’t let me pay the finance off on my card.

Only the owner could.

The manager of the BMW dealership we were in was surprised and couldn’t understand the policy change.

Still bought the car but it was more hassle than it should have been.

[zed0070]

I sold it in the end to BMW. A chap from the buyer team saw the car and arranged collection a few days later.
It was due a major service (approx £650 + MOT)
I sold it for around £29500 so as much as I wanted just under £31k it worked out ok ish.

They cleared the finance on the collection day and bank transferred the remaining amount. Whoever purchases the M340i will truly have an awesome car.

My lease via the SS has been delayed and I may end up cancelling that order So left without a car now so now looking for another car